"The same goes even more strongly in the case of Alan Moore’s work, incidentally, but that’s a detail."
Oh, Lord, yes. As I said on Goodreads about Jerusalem: "I gave up after 700 pages. Some great ideas, and very clever writing, but it's unreadable. James Joyce meets Promethea, with a slice of Enid Blyton and a dose of LSD." I should probably note that there were still over 500 pages left at that point.
I tried reading The Great When recently, and I really wanted to like it, but it was in desperate need of editing. At half the length it could have been good. As it was, the best thing about it was Nico Delort's cover art.
I was about to remark exactly this: that Alan Moore also seems to need the graphic novel format to really be great. I wonder if it's because there's so much less space in that format, forcing you to tell compact stories?
Also, the medium shapes the way we think and create within it. I think I write better comics than prose (and better fiction prose than nonfiction) because primarily I think visually -- or did, before covid inconsiderately knocked a bunch of neurons out -- and so the ways that I conceive and construct scenarios in comics are different.
I'm afraid it's nothing very interesting. It's just damaged my short-term memory and visualization abilities a bit. I got off lightly compared to friends who have had severe persistent brain fog, though.
The visualization is what interests me - that's a very different part of the brain to the bits that handle memory and the usual cognitive functions that are affected by COVID.
All reviews are, of course, fair comment… but I could have done without the airy judgement on the significant number of people who actually enjoyed The Ocean At The End Of The Lane, one of Gaiman’s most popular novels and one adapted into a highly regarded and hugely successful play.
I must confess that the popularity of a piece of work cuts no ice with me. When reviewing, I'm only interested in my own assessment of it. For example, unlike Bill Maher and about 6 million other people a day, I would rather eat cold gruel than a McDonald's.
Oh, sure - and likewise. I’m only pointing out that “hokey and homey play well with the undemanding crowd who lap up this kind of fantasy” is a backhanded swipe at an awful lot of people that you don’t know, which isn’t like you.
True, it's the novel that earned my derision rather than whoever managed to find something worthwhile in it -- if they did, then I say good luck to 'em!
"The same goes even more strongly in the case of Alan Moore’s work, incidentally, but that’s a detail."
Oh, Lord, yes. As I said on Goodreads about Jerusalem: "I gave up after 700 pages. Some great ideas, and very clever writing, but it's unreadable. James Joyce meets Promethea, with a slice of Enid Blyton and a dose of LSD." I should probably note that there were still over 500 pages left at that point.
I tried reading The Great When recently, and I really wanted to like it, but it was in desperate need of editing. At half the length it could have been good. As it was, the best thing about it was Nico Delort's cover art.
I was about to remark exactly this: that Alan Moore also seems to need the graphic novel format to really be great. I wonder if it's because there's so much less space in that format, forcing you to tell compact stories?
More specifically, the descriptions and action are carried by the artwork, not the prose.
Also, the medium shapes the way we think and create within it. I think I write better comics than prose (and better fiction prose than nonfiction) because primarily I think visually -- or did, before covid inconsiderately knocked a bunch of neurons out -- and so the ways that I conceive and construct scenarios in comics are different.
Hang on - COVID changed the way you think? Tell me more. Better still, write a blog post about it, because that's fascinating.
I'm afraid it's nothing very interesting. It's just damaged my short-term memory and visualization abilities a bit. I got off lightly compared to friends who have had severe persistent brain fog, though.
The visualization is what interests me - that's a very different part of the brain to the bits that handle memory and the usual cognitive functions that are affected by COVID.
All reviews are, of course, fair comment… but I could have done without the airy judgement on the significant number of people who actually enjoyed The Ocean At The End Of The Lane, one of Gaiman’s most popular novels and one adapted into a highly regarded and hugely successful play.
I must confess that the popularity of a piece of work cuts no ice with me. When reviewing, I'm only interested in my own assessment of it. For example, unlike Bill Maher and about 6 million other people a day, I would rather eat cold gruel than a McDonald's.
Oh, sure - and likewise. I’m only pointing out that “hokey and homey play well with the undemanding crowd who lap up this kind of fantasy” is a backhanded swipe at an awful lot of people that you don’t know, which isn’t like you.
True, it's the novel that earned my derision rather than whoever managed to find something worthwhile in it -- if they did, then I say good luck to 'em!